


Offline

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Barnes is a shameless flirt, Domestic Avengers, Firefighter Bucky Barnes, Flirting, Gamer AU - Freeform, Insecure Tony Stark, Insecurity, Multi, No angst here, Police Officer Steve Rogers, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Rhodey lives to embarrass Tony, Steve Rogers tries to be smooth, but pretty obvious where it's headed, cute fluff, doesn't actually talk about games in detail, embarrassed tony, flustered Tony Stark, overwhelmed tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 17:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12753126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: The problem with flirting online is that eventually it moves into real life. And Tony is pretty sure that the real life version just isn't going to measure up.





	Offline

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for an anon who wanted Tony to be meeting up with the other Avengers and very nervous to meet Steve and Bucky.

"Stop staring at the door."

"I'm not staring at the door."

"You've been literally staring at the door for fifteen minutes."

"No I haven't."

"I've been timing you."

Tony stared at the digital watch that had been shoved under his nose. His face got hot as he watched the timer click over to sixteen minutes, and, when he looked up, Rhodey was grinning at him. Tony scowled and shoved Rhodey’s arm away, leaning back in his chair and crossing his own arms. He couldn't help bouncing his knee anxiously. Rhodey's grin softened.

"Tones, seriously. It's gonna be fine. We've been talking about this for like a month. You know these people. They’re our friends. You knew this was gonna happen."

"I knew, but I was hoping I'd contract a mysterious disease and die before then," Tony said in a small voice, looking down at the table.

"I think you'd break the hearts of two certain guys if that happened."

"Please. We might have flirted a lot while we were playing, but they're gonna take one look at me and -"

"And what?" Rhodey challenged.

Tony didn't answer. He was tired of having this conversation. No matter how much Rhodey reassured him that no one would be disappointed in him, he just couldn't bring himself to believe it. How he'd gotten mixed up in a gamer group comprised of police officers, fire fighters, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, and teachers was _beyond him_. He was a businessman, short and simple. The most awe-inspiring thing that Tony did in the course of a day was putting his signature on a piece of paper.

And that was setting aside the whole appearance thing. Tony looked okay for a man in his late thirties who spent most of his time hunched over a desk. But he might have done a little bit of hacking to put some faces to the names he and Rhodey had already gotten. That turned out to be a mistake. He'd been nervous before, but that got a heck of a lot worse when he realized that he was meeting a group of tall, gorgeous people.

"They're gonna like you," Rhodey said, gentler now. "It's not going to be like Sunset or Tiberius all over again, okay? I promise." He checked his watch, then glanced at the door. "Here comes Natasha."

Oh god. Tony swallowed hard, staring at the table. Was it too late to run?

Apparently it was, because Rhodey was standing up to greet a beautiful women with dark red hair. She was a ballet teacher, she’d said, and it showed. There were two men with her, which Tony privately identified as Clint Barton and Sam Wilson, the former a gym teacher and the latter a school counselor. Right behind them were Thor and Loki Odinson; Thor was a pediatrician and Loki was a paramedic. 

Introductions had barely been made before the cafe door opened again. Dr. Bruce Banner and Dr. Betty Ross came in together. Bruce was the only person that Tony already knew besides Rhodey. Their paths had crossed a couple of times during the course of their work. So Tony was able to dredge up a small smile, but his eyes were still locked on the door.

And yup: here they came. Tony's heart started to pound as Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers pushed open the door of the café and walked inside. Bucky wasn't in his firefighter uniform (unfortunate, Tony might've forgeone being nervous in order to climb him like a tree if he had been) but Steve was still in his police officer uniform. The handcuffs dangling from Steve's duty belt made Tony's mouth go dry. They were both striking, especially together, turning several heads in the café.

It wasn't very mature, but Tony did what he had to do: he ducked behind Rhodey, making this one of the few times in his life he was grateful that his best friend was both taller and bulkier than he was, and hid.

"What the hell am I doing here?" Tony said under his breath, wringing his hands together. He had pictures. They'd both sent him a picture, so he hadn't even needed to look for them. But they were even more handsome in real life than they were in the pictures. How was that even possible?

This had to be one of the worst decisions he'd ever made. He never should've let Rhodey talk him into this meeting. It was supposed to be fun. Their group had been pretty consistently gaming together for about fourteen months now. Natasha had been the one to suggest meeting up in public, but everyone else had quickly agreed. Tony was the odd one out and couldn’t think of a good way to excuse himself without coming off like an asshole.

He suddenly regretted all those nights he'd stayed up flirting with Steve and Bucky on a private channel. It was easy to do when he didn't have to look into someone's eyes and see disappointment looking back. For all of five seconds he sported the hope that the two of them had forgotten all about him, but that hope died a swift death when Rhodey moved to shake Sam's hand and Bucky's eyes immediately sought him out.

The resulting smiles that lit up Bucky's and Steve's faces left Tony feeling like someone had just grabbed his lungs and squeezed. He smiled back helplessly, barely aware that he was doing so. They just looked... so _happy_. That didn't stop the renewed jolt of panic when they walked over to him, though. He straightened up and immediately regretted letting Rhodey talk him out of wearing his lifts. Without them, Tony was 5'7 on a good day and Bucky was at least 6'0, Steve a couple inches over.

"Tony!" Steve said, practically vibrating with excitement. "It's so good to finally meet you in person."

Tony opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

"We've been waiting for this for weeks," Bucky added. Somehow, his smile got even bigger as he took Tony's hand and gave it a shake. But then he didn't let go. He just stood there. Holding Tony's hand.

Tony squeaked and heard Rhodey snort behind him. "You too," he finally managed to say. It came out a little shakier than he'd intended, but it was words. That was a start. He lowered his eyes to where Bucky was still holding his hand, but Bucky didn't let go.

Then Steve took his other hand. "I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to change first. My shift ran over and I, uh, might have forgotten we were meeting this afternoon." His expression turned sheepish. "If Bucky hadn't called me, I would still be at the office."

"That's okay," Rhodey said, clapping a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony loves men in uniform."

"Rhodey!" Tony said, mortified. Oh god, this was not how he'd imagined this meeting going. Where the hell was the Tony Stark who could charm the pants off even the most recalcitrant politician? This was as bad as the day he'd met Pepper. 

Steve was laughing, though, his blue eyes shining. “That bodes well for both of us, then.” He squeezed Tony’s hand. He had big hands.

“I’d love to try my uniform on for you, Doll,” Bucky purred. “Do you like playing damsel in distress? You can climb a tree and I’ll rescue you, and then you can thank me.” He grinned shamelessly and trailed his fingers across the flesh on Tony’s inner arm. Tony’s breath caught as a tingly sensation shot up his arm. He’d never known the skin there was so sensitive.

“Bucky,” Steve said, shooting Bucky a look. “Don’t you think that’s moving a little too fast?”

Bucky just snorted and leaned in to whisper in Tony’s ear. “Don’t pay any attention to Stevie. He tries to act like a stick in the mud, but he loves playing good cop-bad cop in bed.”

Holy shit. Tony’s mind was providing him with some _very_ interesting images. He got it together enough to ask, “Who plays good cop?”

“We trade off,” Bucky murmured, lips so close that Tony shivered. “Don’t worry, though. You can keep a starring role as the prisoner we’re trying to… _interrogate_.”

Tony might have whimpered. He wasn’t sure. He was utterly baffled and completely turned on, which were pretty conflicting emotions. He stared at Bucky’s grin, then shifted his gaze to Steve’s face – Steve was trying to look like he was mad, but his smile kept breaking through. And then Tony remembered something that he had apparently forgotten: he’d been flirting with a couple of trolls. He was so screwed.

“Maybe I want to be the one doing the interrogating,” Tony said, doing an – in his opinion – excellent job of hiding the fact that he wanted to melt into Bucky’s arms. “Anytime you want to play businessman and intern, just let me know.”

Bucky looked delighted. “I would love to. Let’s go right now.”

“Bucky!” Steve said again, this time rolling his eyes. “Sit down. We’re here to have lunch, remember?”

“Who needs food?” Bucky muttered, but sat. He still hadn’t let go of Tony’s hand, so Tony was dragged into a seat beside him. Since Steve was still holding Tony’s other hand, Steve had to sit as well. The end result was that Tony found himself sitting between them with no idea how he’d gotten there.

He caught Rhodey’s eye, who was sitting between Natasha and Bruce. Rhodey winked at him. Tony flushed but couldn’t help smiling, especially when Bucky called him “Doll” again in between Steve’s increasingly curious questions about the work that Tony did. Maybe this wouldn’t be as big of a disaster as he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
